Hart's Cove Trail

Hart's Cove Trail is a 5.3 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Neskowin, Oregon that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from July until December. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

DISTANCE

5.3 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

1079 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Out & Back

dogs on leash

birding

camping

hiking

nature trips

walking

beach

forest

views

wild flowers

wildlife

A beautiful hike on the coast where you descend to your destination for a change!
This is a wonderful hike that takes you through a temperate rainforest environment past massive trees and eventually to beautiful coastal views. If you arrive at the right time of year you may see plenty of wildflowers as well. This hike is unique as you start of the hike descending and return climbing the same switchbacks on the way back.

For a “hard” hike I’d say it’s on the easy side. Great length. Super easy hike in aside from one of the bridges being out so you have to balance across some rocks. Lots of climbing back to the parking area on the way back. 10/10 would do again.

Ariel P.

2 months ago

Beautiful hike, lots of downhill at the beginning (therefore lots of uphill on the end of the return trip). Path is mostly packed soil, some gravel at the beginning, path is only one person wide. Beautiful surroundings, lots of ferns, Huckleberry bushes, some huge Sitka spruce. At the end you pop out of the trees on a big green hillside over the ocean (like Cascade head but smaller and covered with a lot of salmon berry bushes) on the south side of the hillside there is a great view of Hart's Cove, which is beautiful. Cliff Creek pours into the cove in a (50ft?) waterfall. The cove is filled with seals, you can hear them even in the wooded part of the hike. There is a decent amount of parking, it was more crowded than the Cascade head parking though, seemed like a pretty popular hike. There weren't any sketchy parts really, but you do have to pick your way across one creek where the footbridge washed out, it was pretty easy, but could be hard if the creek was higher from recent rain. We got a late start and had to return in the dark with flashlights. The trail conditions are clean enough for that... but we did see signs of a bear (a huge old stump clawed apart recently... bears looking for grubs).

This was actually way better than I thought. I love to just hop in the Prius with my dog 'Unter"and randomly find hiking spots. So the gravel road to the trailhead isn't too bad in the dry months. Looks like a 4x4 is needed in the wet. There's two trailheads that I saw on the road (1861). One starts at the backend of the Nature Conservancy's trail to Cascade Head (NO DOGS PLEASE!!! SENSITIVE BIRDING HABITAT). A mile down the road is the TH to Harts Cove. This was a moderate/difficult hike for me and only 2.7 miles each way, however if you're not a conditioned hiker this would be a difficult hike (and slippery in the wet!!).
Beautiful old growth Hemlocks, Siska Spruse. I think I saw a old growth Noble Pine, but I'm not sure. Possibly saw a large nest of some bird in one of the larger trees. The sound of seals-howling multitudes wafting up from the the beaches blows through you on your way.

Unfortunately, I only made it to the viewpoint and ran out of time to go to the cove. I'm sure its amazing!! That's my next hike again after labor day!!

Excellent hike through heavily forested area. Plenty of small creeks for puppies. The view of the cove is wonderful. Just follow the meadow trails towards the stand of trees. Chill out, eat a picnic lunch under the trees. Last 1/4 mile is uphill so save some energy.

I took this trail alone with my dog early on a summer morning. It was simply an amazing hike. To get to the trailhead, you have to turn off US 101 onto a forest service road that you take for 4 miles up a mountain. It's about a 20-25 minute drive depending on how daring you are with gravel roads. I tend to drive slowly and try not to cause too much noise. This drive is a great experience in and of itself.

The first part of the hike is a set of steep switch backs that take you down quite a bit in elevation. The forest is deliciously silent at this point. Gradually, you begin to hear a small brook that you eventually cross on a wooden bridge. From that point, the noise of the ocean becomes more pronounced and eventually I could even hear sea lions barking in the distance.

There was one section about a quarter mile long where the trail got a little rough....more due to mud and water than anything else. But it was not terribly difficult. I made the entire hike in running shoes. (I wouldn't recommend this but it was all I had with me and....hey....I'm here to tell you about it)

When you finally emerge from the forest into a large clearing above Hart's Cove the views are incredible. Take your time and bring a camera.

I saw only 6 other hikers the entire time, but I did go early, about 8:45 am.

If you are looking for a nice cardio workout, coming back up those switchbacks had this novice triathlete panting. Good times!!

My favorite trail in Oregon. The hike is challenging but spectacular, with beautiful sea cliffs and meadows to explore at the end of the trail and lots of old growth forest in between. There are also some magnificent camping spots scattered throughout the forest on the way to the trail, so I'd recommend exploring some of the forest roads and staying overnight, then hitting the trail early in the morning. (Note that the trail is closed for six months of the year.)